A project which has taken months of preparation will need an additional two weeks for the council to make a decision.

On Monday, the Kinston City Council decided to delay the Unified Development Ordinance until the next meeting in order to analyze it further.

“It’s just a big document,” City Councilman Bobby Merritt said. “We’re just making sure we can get a second look at it, but I don’t see any reason it won’t get passed.”

Kinston hadn’t updated its UDO since the mid-1990s, and the Planning Department has spent about 10 months actively developing two new overlay districts and updating articles of the ordinance.

Although the council approved the rezoning request for Dr. Eric Ibegbu, the delay in adopting the UDO also pushed the approval or denial of the Arts and Cultural District Overlay and the ordinance for parcel re-zonings to Nov. 4, as well.

Dale Holland, principal of Holland Consulting Planners, wasn’t surprised about the decision of the council.

“That was not abnormal,” Holland said. “It’s an extensive document and the council said they wanted a little more time to look at it. It’s nothing out of the ordinary.”

There was a public hearing held during the meeting, where several citizens voiced their opinions on the UDO.

“The few comments we received were positive when it came to the arts district and UDO,” Holland said.”

Planning Director Adam Short believed the public hearing was the most important part of Monday night’s meeting.

“Given the scale and importance of something so big, it’s best to give everyone a little time to digest and let it percolate through the community,” Short said. “If there are any issues, the public can have the next two weeks to reach out to the staff or council.

“An additional safeguard was to have the community understand as much about the topic as possible, and getting the public input was needed. The council usually doesn’t adopt such a huge ordinance on the same night.”

There won’t be another public hearing for the UDO, but the council will take citizen comments during the designated session in the next meeting.

“If there are no major issues, the council will take action,” Short said.

The city council also honored the group of firefighters who raised $5,330 for their Fill the Boot campaign during Labor Day weekend for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Also, a part of Phillips Road will be closed for the Fall Festival at First Pentecostal Holiness Church from 5:30-8 p.m. on Oct. 31.

The next city council meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 4.

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.

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For more information on the UDO,

Visit cityofkinstonudo.org or call Planning Director Adam Short at 252-939-3269.